Honda “glad” to reward Toro Rosso through German GP podium

Honda F1 managing director Masashi Yamamoto says he is “glad” for Toro Rosso to have earned their second podium in Formula 1 at the German GP last month after having worked together to improve since 2018.

Last year Honda partnered up with Toro Rosso after a few troublesome years with McLaren, a move which proved good enough for Red Bull to make the switch to a Honda engine this season.

Max Verstappen won the first race for the partnership in Austria and again two race later in Germany, while Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat claimed the third spot on the podium and the teams second podium in their history.

Yamamoto was delighted to have worked together with them to achieve that and the work they did for this year last year.

He said to Autosport: “Kvyat in third was a very big thing for us because we were improving together last year, with some struggles as well."We made a big effort to improve together with Toro Rosso as a team. "That was only the second time for Toro Rosso as well, since Vettel’s win. It was a very big moment for the team as well and we were very glad we could achieve it together."I was talking to Franz Tost last year, looking at this year as we knew we were going to be with Red Bull from the middle of the season. "We were discussing we can try various things with Toro Rosso towards this year. So we thank them for their contribution and we’re glad we could be on the podium with them.”